This and that: homework, feeling like a grown up and getting old.

Henry is three, and at three comes nightly homework from daycare. I know this worked wonders for Spencer, and even though it was hard it did help him read and write and learn so he was more than prepared for kindergarten. I know this, but nightly homework is HARD. It’s hard for me, because I don’t want to work on letters and sight words immediately upon getting home. It’s hard for him because, well, everything is cause for a meltdown these days.

The homework doesn’t take nearly as long as Spencer’s did, so I don’t know if they’ve streamlined the process or he’s just a little more focused. I usually have no patience for it, but last night I was proud of myself. I sat with him for every letter and tried to reassure him through every meltdown of sobbing “I can’t do it” when I try to coach him through finding “up” in a sentence or writing a letter “M” without tracing. I tried to explain to him that it’s just practice. It doesn’t have to be perfect. If he never tries, that’s the only time he’s not going to be able to do it. Only once did I raise my voice with him, instead attempting valiantly to speak in soothing tones the way I am not wont to do.

It was a hard 20 minutes. Eight sobbing fits. One lay down. I’m supposed to do this for the next 15 years?

I rarely have to do Spencer’s homework with him – he does it at aftercare, and I check it when he gets home. It’s easier for him now. I have to remember that it gets easier (of course eventually it’s going to get harder again).

**

Henry has not been sleeping through the night for months now. At first we just figured it was a phase, but it seems to be lasting. Monday night he was up FOUR times. I looked into wake-up clocks yesterday, but last night he slept through and I don’t know if this will be a turning point or if he was just that tired from the night before that he couldn’t wake up. Time will tell, I suppose. There’s a wake up clock in the Amazon one-touch cart though, just so you know.

**

I’ve been making my breakfast at the same time as I make my lunch and Spencer’s lunch in the mornings. It really takes no time at all to scramble one egg and one egg white, and then sprinkle it with cheese and stuff it into a small Tupperware. It makes me feel like a grown up, getting up in time to handle all my needs and the kids’ needs and getting out of the house at a reasonable time. Not that I handle all the kids’ needs – really, I handle hardly any of them. They wake on their own and play for a while until C forces them to get dressed and has them sit down for breakfast. All I really do is referee them and make Spencer’s lunch. Still, this morning I got up 10 minutes before my alarm instead of hitting the snooze three times, took a shower, did my make up, got dressed and make three meals and STILL got to work on time. This is reason for a trophy, I think.

**

And then, feeling more old than like a grown up, I stretched this morning in my chair at work and gave myself what feels like a charley horse in my neck. I went holding the side of my neck like it was going to fall apart on me and asked for Advil from my coworker who promptly gave me some plus the ice pack out of her lunch pail, so I’m now sitting with an ice pack. After 20 minutes or so the pain went down to a slight nagging feeling, so I’m hoping that it goes away soon. I honestly have no idea what I did, but it needs to stop. Now.